In the past 14 months, concern about climate change among conservative Republicans — and among all voters — has hit its highest level ever.

A new survey published by the climate change communication programs at Yale and George Mason University (GMU) reports “an increase in Republican understanding of the reality of human-caused global warming, worry about the threat, and support for several climate policies over the past 14 months.”

What makes this so unusual is that in the months after President Donald Trump took office, GOP acceptance of climate science dropped. Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale program, explained that social science research has found that “the views espoused by political leaders can influence the views of their followers.”

Leiserowitz said that this original drop “may thus have been driven in part by a Trump Effect” whereby his claims that climate change is a hoax, his efforts to block U.S. climate action, and his announcement that he will abandon the Paris Climate Agreement “likely had an effect on his fellow Republicans.”

But in 2018, even though Trump kept denying and downplaying global warming concern, Republican worries about climate jumped back up.

For instance, 70 percent of liberal and moderate Republicans said they understood that global warming was occurring, a 7-point jump from 2017. And while only 32 percent of conservative Republicans are concerned about climate change, that still represents a 9-point jump from 2017 levels — and the highest percentage of concern since Yale-GMU began polling in 2008.

“These results suggest that the Trump Effect has worn off,” said Leiserowitz, “and that Republicans (liberal, moderate, and conservative) are re-engaging the issue.”

Indeed, when asked whether or not they would support a Green New Deal to “generate 100% of the nation’s electricity from clean renewable sources within the next 10 years, Republicans across the political spectrum said “yes.”

The number of GOP climate science deniers in Congress has also dropped since so many lost election in the mid-terms last November. But the senior leadership of the party remains stuck in denial, suggesting a growing gap between Republican voters and their party’s leaders.

The Yale-GMU report does not offer an explanation for why Republican voters’ concerns about climate change has rebounded despite Trump’s ongoing denial.

But an Associated Press-NORC poll released last month found that 48 percent of those surveyed found the science of human-caused global warming more convincing than they did five years earlier — and extreme weather was the major driving force behind why.

Increases in extreme weather have been a major driver in convincing Americans of climate science. CREDIT: AP.

Apparently the increasingly obvious reality of climate change — from more intense hurricanes and destructive wildfires — is proving more persuasive to many Republicans than the increasingly hard-to-believe, repeatedly debunked nonsense about winter storms disproving global warming coming from the party’s leader.

3 in 4 conservatives support protecting individual land owner’s rights to lease their land

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — In a poll released today by the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum (OHCEF), conservative voters throughout the state overwhelmingly supported public policies that encourage greater production of renewable energy. Among the key findings:

Two-thirds of Ohio conservatives believe that Ohio should diversify its energy generation portfolio by having at least half of Ohio’s energy come from renewable sources.

Additionally, nearly two-thirds of respondents say they are more likely to support a politician who voted for/supported renewable energy or energy efficiency legislation.

The third annual poll was conducted by the Republican polling firm, Public Opinion Strategies, which specifically interviewed Ohio voters who identified as Republican or independents who also say they are conservative. Underscoring the conservative viewpoints of those polled, President Trump had an 81 percent favorable rating, up from previous OHCEF polls.

Conservative voters also demonstrate strong and significant support for establishing setback limits that protect a land owner’s right to lease property for wind projects – with 75 percent supporting this issue. Additionally, 67 percent favor establishing reasonable setback distances of a quarter of a mile from residences for wind projects that will create additional revenue for local fire, police, and schools.

“Paulding County has seen over $700 million in economic investment from 3 commercial wind projects since 2011,” said Jerry Ziekle, Director of Paulding County Economic Director. “Thanks to local wind development, our county’s bond rating has increased to Aa3 from A1 by Moody’s. Also, our schools are receiving money from PILOT payments and the Paulding County Area Foundation was able to award over $100,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors in 2018.”

“It was not surprising that conservatives view protecting property owners’ rights as very important,” said Tyler Duvelius, Executive Director of OHCEF. “Fifty-two percent said protecting property owners’ ability to produce energy on their land was important to them. Simply put, it’s your land and your rules.”

Additionally, Ohio conservatives have the most positive feelings about energy efficiency and natural gas followed by solar, wind, coal, nuclear power and electric vehicles.

“Conservatives as a whole find national security to be a critical topic, yet do not factor in how renewable energy plays a role in protecting our country,” said Lt. General Richard Zilmer, USMC (Ret.). “Companies are focused on renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy – for the simple reason that renewable energy is not only better for the environment than traditional sources, but is better for the security of our nation, and increasingly a better choice economically.”

Public Opinion Strategies conducted the survey from January 19-22, 2019 and completed 400 telephone interviews with registered voters who identify as conservative. The margin of sampling error for this statewide sample of conservative voters is +/-­‐4.9%.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Whether you are a solar homeowner, completely new to solar, or somewhere in between – this event is for you!
Breakfast and Lunch will be provided for all attendees!

Complete schedule and details in the “Calendar” tab above.

######

Share Energy & Environmental Events with other Concerned Citizens.

E-mail them to kenapacki@gmail.com

#####

Concerned Citizens Website

Bogus subscribers have forced me to remove the option to sign up for email sharing of posts.

You may subscribe to notification of each post by sending me you email address.
Write to me at:
kcapacki@hotmail.com